Endeavor Health Weight Management at Edward-Elmhurst Health offers both surgical and non-surgical options to help you achieve permanent weight loss and the healthy, active life you were meant to live.

“When Dave came in to see me—you can always tell by somebody’s eyes that they’re ready for this. He realized that if he didn’t get his weight under control, he’d have to deal with other medical issues,” says bariatric and obesity medicine specialist Omar Shamsi, M.D.

Since Novak was not interested in surgery, Dr. Shamsi talked to him about changing his diet—and the way he thought about food.

“We use a team approach. Our team includes dietitians and psychologists,” says Dr. Shamsi. “A lot of overeating is stress eating or emotional eating. You have to fix the head before you can fix the belly. Let’s handle the stress.”

A medically-supervised program tailored to your metabolism and unique weight issues can help you achieve your weight loss goals and eliminate weight-related health problems. If you have a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or greater, you may benefit from a physician-led program that includes a mix of medication, monitoring, nutrition programs and lifestyle recommendations.

“I sat down. (Dr. Shamsi) said, ‘What do you eat?’ I have a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch cereal for breakfast every morning. And he said, ‘Well that’s not good,’” Novak says, clarifying that the “bowl” of cereal was significantly larger than one serving of cereal.